Monday, December 26, 2016

2016 has been a trying year for everyone on Facebook. From
the political comments to bogus news traps, and even Christmas, I’m hearing
reasons people are taking a break from this social network. But throwing the
baby out with the bathwater may not be the best solution to this dilemma.

It is possible to interact on Facebook and NOT be inundated
with updates we don’t want to see.

Facebook works on their own Edgerank algorithm. This means
that based on certain parameters, FB decides what you’ll see and what you want.
But these parameters are influenced by our personal (or business) behavior, so
we actually have a little more control than we may realize. Here are some
habits you may want to develop to make your FB time a little less stressful.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Have you ever wondered what excuse the inn keepers could
possibly have come up with that first Christmas that would’ve been sufficient
justification for allowing the Son of God to be born in a barn? Sure, they had
that census crowd excuse going for them. But lighting up a “no vacancy” sign as
a hugely pregnant woman rides up on a donkey? You’d think somebody would’ve made some room.

Friday, December 23, 2016

I’m
a writer, speaker, editor, and blogger, and finding new material is a constant
challenge for me. Satisfying the voracious appetite of my blog often reminds me
of how difficult it was to keep a household of teenagers fed. Add to that the
need for clever ideas for magazine articles, women’s ministry programs, and writers
conference workshops, and my creative pantry sometimes feels like Mother
Hubbard’s cupboard.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is
tested by being praised.” Proverbs 27:21 (NLT)

Okay, I thought, when I recently read this Scripture. That’s
interesting. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this passage but I can
tell you this was the first time I stopped and thought about it.

I like praise. Doesn’t everyone? It’s something we’ve
earned, right? Shouldn’t we enjoy it? So why are we tested by it?

Monday, December 19, 2016

I noticed a
trend on social media some years ago. Instead of making expect-to-break-them
resolutions, people were claiming colors, phrases or related words to define
their goals when a new year came around.

I once Dared to
be an Awesome Orange. Two years ago, I pared it down even more to choose one
word. Boundaries was first. The next
year was Better.

Sometimes it
takes a while to discover your personal Word of the Year. Sometimes it comes to
you as easy as breathing.

It doesn't matter if you
choose one word or three, or go all-out with a list of resolutions.

Tips to Consider

Set a Journey, Not a Goal: Specific goals, while great, aren’t
always met in a timely manner, or at all. This can lead to a person feeling
like a failure instead of a success. Rather, choose what will help you grow
incrementally.

Choose to be a Diamond: You are more than a two-dimensional
object. Make your mantra reflect all your beautiful facets.

Everything Old is New Again: Don’t be intimidated by the “new” in New
Year. It’s okay to enhance what you already know.

Shine Like The Star That You Are: Whatever you choose, don’t bury it in
the sand or under your pillow. Reach your world with your bright light.

It’s ALL About YOU: Your resolution/word/mantra should
encompass the essence of you and what
you want to accomplish in the next
twelve months. Adding others to the mix can be a great idea, as long as there
aren’t too many cooks in your kitchen.

How does any of
this apply to social media and writing? The simple answer—it doesn’t. The
complex answer—everything’s writing, everything’s social. Your theme should
amplify your personality, goals, work ethic, belief system . . . Anything and
everything you need it to amplify and grow.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

by Edie Melson @EdieMelsonI love the holidays—the gatherings, the sparkle, most of all the gatherings of family. But even for me, there are times when the pace gets to be too much. I have to refocus on what's important and take a breather from all the chaos. So I'm curious.How do you cope with the pace of the season?

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

I also invite you to use this image any way you like online. Post it to your blog, share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, anywhere you'd like. All I ask is that you keep it intact, with my website watermark visible.

Friday, December 16, 2016

I think it is no secret that
the highlight of any conference is hearing an agent or editor say “Send it to
me. I’d like to read more.” It’s that first step towards success that so many
writers for so many generations have waited for.

But not indies! We write, edit, and hit publish with no middle men. What would
the point of conference be?

Reasons Why

1. We can start with the first
action of an indie: we write. And what conferences offer to writers is
training. Classes from experts that push you and challenge you. I would have
never ended up with the naked fight seen in my unpublished WIP if it hadn’t
been for a James Rubart class on high concept! Now, I did cut the scene out,
but writing it and pushing my idea to the limit and beyond was a great
experience for me. One I might not have tested without someone explaining how,
why, and when to keep pushing the idea. Conferences offer writing classes from
beginner to career professional, so no matter your experience you can learn.

2. Moving on to the second action: indies edit. Rather, we self-edit and hire
editors. At conference there are often classes to improve your self-editing.
But there are also contacts. Freelancers. Other authors who can recommend
people. In my opinion, the author/editor relationship is a hard one. Not only
do you need an editor who is frankly a genius, you also need one you get along
with. I don’t do well with editors who mother me or who are sarcastic in their
comments. I want “just the facts, ma’am.” I don’t need to be coddled, but I
also don’t like a disrespectful attitude. So I need to chat up other authors on
the reg to find people who I will enjoy working with.

3. And the third action of any indie worth their salt: we publish. How can a
conference help an indie publish? After all, the point of this is that we are
independent!

Connections, my friend, are invaluable. You can, will, and should continue to
publish your stand-alone titles. But right now the hot thing is box sets with
other authors. A group of 12 Christian indies all just hit the USA today best
sellers list with their box set. You can connect online in Facebook groups and
the like (and should) but you can meet these authors in real life, laugh
together, cry together, work and plot together, at conferences.

Bottom Line

If you stay home and only
connect online, you can have a long, satisfying, and successful indie career.
But if you go to a conference you can learn, grow, and connect with writers and
editors who will make your writing career deeper and stronger.

If you can afford the money and time, you cannot afford to stay home. ­­­

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of The Plain Jane Mysteries, The Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries and the Tillgiven RomanticMysteries. Traci has a degree in history from Portland State University and still lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, two busy kids, and their dogs, Dr. Watson and Archie Goodwin.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Amazon Marketing Services
(AMS) is the newest marketing opportunity that you can utilize as an author.
You must have an Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account to participate.
The best benefit of AMS is that your advertisements will be seen by buyers who
are kindle readers.

Unlike Facebook Ads, which
can cost you hundreds of dollars in advertisements to people who do not own a
kindle, AMS offers you the opportunity to define your audience to a very
specific group of people—readers who use kindle apps or platforms, and readers
who buy books on Amazon.

You can be assured that by
using AMS you will have the best opportunity to acquire sales from kindle
readers. No other advertising platform can offer such a defined market—not even
the infamous, Bookbub!

One of the great benefits to
AMS, is that it allows you to customize the keywords that you are targeting.
For one of my recent adds, I imported a list of over 1000 keywords and phrases
that covered every conceivable and searchable term or chain of words related to
my topic.

AMS reports specifically on
the success of each keyword, showing you how many impressions the keyword
delivered, how many clicks came as a result of the keyword, and how many sell
throughs were associated with that keyword. No other marketing platform can
give those kind of specific details.

Every promotion and
marketing service has its strengths and weaknesses, but for an author with
books listed on Amazon, AMS is currently providing excellent results. I highly
suggest it at this time.

Be forewarned, as with any
marketing opportunity, overtime as more people begin to use AMS it will become
less effective at delivering results, but for now it is still providing a
wonderful return on your investment.

Cyle Young is thankful God blessed him with the uniqueness of being an ADD-riddled…SQUIRREL!...binge writer. Not much unlike the classic video game Frogger, Cyle darts back and forth between various writing genres. He crafts princess children’s stories, how-to advice for parents, epic fantasy tales, and easy readers.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Has it ever occurred to you to use your article research to
write different types of articles once your original article is published? For
most researched articles, there is always a file of information you have to cut
in order to stay within your word count. Save it and turn it into assorted
types of articles.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Nothing rings sweeter to
an author’s heart than these words. The moment a reader becomes so invested in
a story that nothing is more important than reading to the end – It’s
monumental!

We call these page
turners “cliffhangers” – remember “who shot J. R.?” The 1980s season cliffhanger
for Dallas kicked off a new era for television. More so, it kept watchers
drooling to know what happened next, assuring Dallas a knockout for the next
season’s opener.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Sometimes we tend to overcomplicate social media, especially Twitter. Today I'd like to share the basics with the ABCs of Twitter.

A is for
Accessibility.It’s important to be easy to find on Twitter. This means
your twitter handle needs to be as close to your own name as possible, and your
avatar (picture) is recognizable as you.

B is for Bio.Even though your Twitter bio is only 160 characters long, it’s prime real
estate. It tells your audience what to expect from your tweets. You can include
hashtags, but don’t make them the only thing you list.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

There
are days, seasons perhaps, where all that is beauty and wonder encompasses and
eclipses every vision we take in; where every scene in life is overflowing with
joy; where tears of delight and deep satisfaction grab us by the hand and run
us through open fields, mindless of any deterrent or obstacle. These are the
times that pull us along our linear but crooked and bumpy paths. These are the
days that invigorate our (by comparison) lifeless journey…because most days
aren’t like this.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

And that’s one of the
reasons I like my friend Rachel Hauck. She makes me think. Big thoughts.
Braver thoughts. Bolder thoughts.

She makes me open my
eyes wider and look for God, and all the while it’s like she’s whispering in my
ear, “He’s right there, Beth. Can’t you see Him? Look!”

Rachel’s heart is
passionate for God — she has an ardent, intense faith that drives
everything she does and says. And when she says there are no limits with God,
she means it.

Do I live like that?
Do I look at God — who He says He is — and say, “There are no limits with You,
Lord . . . well, except for that one thing I’m asking of you. That one
area of my life I need to change. That one prayer I’ve been praying. That one
unforgivable person. That one unbreakable sin. But other than that — absolutely
no limits!”

Here’s the truth — and
Rachel got it right: God is either limited … or He’s not.

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A nonfiction writer and editor who said she’d never write fiction, Beth is now a novelist with Howard Books. She enjoys writing inspirational contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us. Connect with Beth on her website,Twitter,Facebook, or check out her blog on quotes, In Others’ Words.